Hey there. It’s me, Dera, college graduate. Yup, that happened. As of Friday, May 20, 2016, I am a WashU alum. It feels like it wasn’t too long ago that I was a high school freshman dreaming of life after college, but actually that was eight years ago. Eight years. Like, almost a decade has gone by […]
What Is It Like to Study Abroad in Japan?
When people ask me what Japan is like, I’m not sure how to respond. What do I focus on? Everything is so different; how could I possibly explain all of it? Here, I attempt to give a glimpse into my life as a student in Japan.
Published by Dera
on December 23, 2015
Frequently Asked Questions About My Summer Internship
Wondering what I’m doing in Saint Louis for the summer? Here I answer the most frequent questions about my summer internship at Sparo Labs.
Published by Dera
on June 29, 2015
Radiolab Comes to WashU for Celebration of Arts & Sciences
Last week, the hosts of Radiolab came to Washington University as part of the College of Arts & Sciences week-long celebration of liberal arts. “Wait wait…what’s Radiolab?” you ask. “faijefawaw awesome NPR podcast afealw;efaslifj science fajweifj asd but better.” I respond. Sometimes when people ask me to explain Radiolab I’m so excited about it that I can […]
Published by Dera
on March 5, 2015
It’s Not Delivery. It’s DIY Food.
Meal time was simple when I lived on the South 40 and had a dining hall. Now that I live in an apartment, I cook my own food. Here, I share 3 easy recipes.
Published by Dera
on February 9, 2015
How I Got My Ticket to an Advanced Screening of Mockingjay
The first installment of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay comes to theaters this Friday, November 21. Hunger Games fans who wish to be among the first to see the movie have two options: see the midnight premiere or go to an advanced screening. Midnight screenings are cool. You get to see the movie before everyone else! The downsides […]
Published by Dera
on November 20, 2014
Icona Pop to Headline Fall WILD 2014
The Social Programming Board has selected Swedish pop duo Icona Pop to headline Fall WILD, which will take place in Brookings Quad on Friday, Oct. 24. Personally, I don’t care for Icona Pop. But the free food and pumped-up atmosphere that always accompanies WILD? I love it! In addition to Icona Pop, there will be three opening […]
Published by Dera
on October 10, 2014
How I Landed My Dream Internship
So here’s the thing about my experience at WashU: nothing bad has ever happened to me that wasn’t okay in the end. The point of my last post wasn’t to complain about not getting an internship at Microsoft; it was to show that disappointments in college happen, but you can still learn from them. The point of […]
Published by Dera
on June 13, 2014
How I Got Rejected From My Dream Internship
The rejection came in the middle of November. Before that, I had given my resume to a Microsoft recruiter at the fall career fair. She contacted me a few days later and offered me a phone interview for a summer intern position, which I accepted. Next, I was flown out to their headquarters in Redmond, WA for a day of […]
Published by Dera
on June 5, 2014
Reflections on My Spring 2014 Semester
This year’s extracurricular activities and involvement K.A.R.L. Improv, as usual 🙂 Fun fact: Spring Awakening‘s Tony Award-winning writer, Steven Sater, is a WashU alum. I also saw several performances put on by WashU’s various theatre groups. First, I saw the Performing Arts Department’s performance of Spring Awakening. The show was stunning, and there must have been some onion-chopping ninjas in the […]
Published by Dera
on May 25, 2014
What do pandas and intercollegiate improv festivals have in common?
Answer: K.A.R.L. Improv! As I’ve mentioned before, I’m on an improv comedy team called K.A.R.L. Improv. We do free shows on campus once a month, and we perform at other events on and off campus when people ask for us. We also travel to improv festivals such as CIT (College Improv Tournament) in Kansas City, Missouri and Gainesville Improv […]
Published by Dera
on April 13, 2014
Working out the kinks in my schedule
What, we’re already in the 4th week of the semester? Awesome! It must be flying by because I like my classes so much. Although classes were going well, I wasn’t sure during the first two weeks if I would be able to stay in all of them. I was having some course scheduling issues due […]
Published by Dera
on February 5, 2014
Throwback Thursday to Birthday Surprises
I found these videos today that I forgot I had. I love my roommates! #tbt ______ Last semester, a friend and I decided to throw a joint surprise birthday party for my roommates, whose birthdays are about a week apart. We invited a lot of people, so we suspected it would get kind of loud. […]
Published by Dera
on January 30, 2014
Welcome, Early Decision Class of 2018!
Wow! I can’t believe part of the 2018 class has already been selected. For a brief second, I thought people were being really ambitious by already talking about the class of 2018 when we still haven’t accepted the class of 2017…but then I realized that time flies, Class of 2017 was initiated months ago, and […]
Published by Dera
on December 9, 2013
Spring WILD 2014 Artists Survey
SPB (Social Programming Board) created a survey with a list of 10 possible artists for Spring WILD so that WashU students could rank them in order of preference. I’m familiar with almost all of them, woo! Sometimes you get artists like Chance the Rapper and Karmin *cough* Fall WILD 2013 *cough* and you’re not excited […]
Published by Dera
on December 7, 2013
Women in IT (Part IV): The other side of Olin Library
Oct 21, 2013 I have seen the soul of Olin, and it is impressive. I met with Holli in the lobby of Olin so she could show me around where she works. Now, I’m familiar with the 2nd and 3rd floor, and I’ve done my time in the A and B stacks, but those environments […]
Published by Dera
on December 5, 2013
Women in IT (Part III): A meeting with the music librarian
October 10th, 2013 For my first mentor session with Holli, we got together with Brad Short, the music librarian at WashU, to talk about careers in music and technology. The weather was nice, so we sat right outside the Gaylord Music Library (The library itself is a really neat place. Check it out if you […]
Published by Dera
on December 5, 2013
Women in IT (Part II): Evaluating my strengths, meeting my mentor
StrengthsQuest Soon after the program started, we were sent a link to an online test called the StrengthsQuest test. I answered a series of questions about my personality and behavior, and in return it told me what my five strongest traits were. My results, in order of dominance, were: Futuristic, Empathy, Intellection, Deliberative, and Learner. These […]
Published by Dera
on December 5, 2013
